THE UNIVERSITY OF DAILY KANSAS
FRIDAY FEBRUARY 27, 2009
SPORTS
7B
SWIMMING
Team breaks season, school records but still in fourth
BY HALLIE MANN hmann@kansan.com
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Despite a season-best time, the Kansas medley relay team wasn't completely thrilled with its performance. The team had high expectations, coach Clark Campbell said, and it was hoping to make a 3:35 time.
Senior Danielle Herrmann had her goggles come off mid-race but finished with a strong time.
"That's one of the hardest things to deal with during a race," senior
Maria Mayrovich said, "She still kept swimming and finished strong though."
Finishing with a time of 3:38.32, freshman Abigail Anderson, sophomore Iulia Kuzzhil and seniors Mayrovich and Herrmann placed third. The old season best for Kansas was 3:44.30 and the school record was 3:40.19. Kansas shattered them both.
The swimmers started the team
"We got some really big swims out of lullia and Abigail," Campbell said.
off with individual preliminary races yesterday morning, advancing two seniors to the finals, Danielle Herrmann in the 200-yard individual medley and Maria Mayrovich in the 50-yard freestyle. Kansas also had two divers, sophomore Erin Mertz and junior Meghan Proehl advance to the 1-meter dividing finals yesterday evening.
Herrmann swam the 200-yard IM in 2:01.13 in the preliminaries but swam the finals heat with a time of 2:01.23, finishing in sixth place overall. Both of these times
"Danielle [Herrmann] was a little disappointed with her performance today," Campbell said. "But there are more races to come."
break Herrmann's season best time of 2:03.70 earlier in the season at Miami.
"It was a good warm-up since we
still have two days to go." Mayrovich said. "I had a good race and I think that my time will qualify me for the NCAA [Championship]."
Despite not going to the finals, senior Anne Liggett had the chance to do a run-off race to make the top 24 finishers in the 50-yard free-style. Liggett beat out her opponent from Texas A&M by four one-hundredths of a second and finished with a time of 23.55 seconds.
"Swimming is about racing and a swim-off race is like the ultimate race," Liggett said.
In the 1-meter diving finals Mertz finished eighth with a score of 280.35 and Proehl finished seventh with a score of 281.10. The Kansas divers will have 3-meter diving today and platform diving on Saturday.
After two days of competition Kansas has 173 points and is ranked fourth. Texas leads with 301, followed by Texas A&M with 281 and Missouri with 209.
Edited by Chris Hickerson
HINRICH (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
est player on the floor that nigt. And of course, he had the Jimmy Chitwood jumpshot, a beautiful combination of legs and arms and follow-through.
Hinrich was always the fastest player on the floor.
That's the Hinrich Bill Self remembers. Self never got to coach Hinrich, but Self's old Illinois teams played Hinrich twice, both times in the NCAA tournament.
"I just haven't seen guys move the ball up and down the floor like he did." Self said, before pausing. He began to think about other fast players he's coached. He mentioned freshman Tyshawn Taylor, and then he stopped again.
"I haven't seen anybody like Hinrich-fast."
--room.
It was gray, mild and overcast on Thursday when Brady Morningstar, clothed in a gray sweatshirt, made the short walk from the Jayhawker Towers to Allen Fieldhouse for practice.
Morningstar entered the Fieldhouse and snuck quietly through the hallways, past the campers sleeping on their air mattresses, and back to the Kansas locker
Kirk Hinrich used to make this trip every day. This old cathedral of college basketball is where Hinrich transformed himself from a marginal Top 50 recruit into the seventh pick in the 2003 NBA draft. This is
careers of Hinrich and his former AAU teammate Nick Collison. I'm still pretty certain that no two KU players have ever been as beloved as Nick and Kirk. They probably deserved a title.
"I figured he was the closest thing to what I could be," Morningstar says. "just height-wise, everything. I just tried to pattern my game off of him and watch what he did."
"He had all areas of the game, he played D, he could shoot," Morningstar said. "He was a kid from Iowa that could really play."
where Hinrich inspired a generation of young Kansas kids to play just like him.
--jersey at Kansas.
You simply have to be one of the best.
Here's my Kirk Hinrich story. The 2003 National
Morningstar attended plenty of Kansas games during those years. He watched plenty more on television. The more Morningstar watched, the more he saw himself. Both were from the Midwest and both would see critics question whether they could be successful at a program like Kansas.
Instead, that game turned into a nightmare of Gerry McNamara three-pointers and Kansas' missed free throws.
Morningstar, a Lawrence native, was one of those kids. Morningstar was a seventh grader when Hinrich arrived on campus in 1999 from Sioux City West High School, where he had played for his father, Jim.
--jersey at Kansas.
You simply have to be one of the best.
In the final minutes, as Kansas furiously rallied, Kirk Hinrich jumped into the air and his ankle buckled underneath him. He played those final minutes on a bum ankle. It was pure guts and adrenaline. And then, with a few minutes remaining, Hinrich drove baseline and threw down one of the most ferocious dunks of his career.
"I feel like if the ball would have bounced a different way a couple times, we would have had a championship," Hinrich said.
"I don't know if there's a greater honor than having your jersey hanging in the most historic basketball building in the world."
KIRK HINRICH Kansas guard 1999-2003
On Thursday, a reporter mentioned those two Final Four runs. It's been six years, so much time has past, and still, you got the feeling those Final Four losses still eat away at Hinrich.
Championship was supposed to be the culmination ... at least, that's how I saw it. It was supposed to be a culmination of the
Bill Self was pretty clear at Thursday's conference. He said there no criteria for retiring a
"He deserves it," Self said. "He without question is one of the best to ever play here."
Here's one more Hinrich story. It was 2003, Hinrich was a senior and Kansas was playing at Missouri. The game was tied 74-74 with
25 seconds left.
Nick Collison's baseline jump-shot had sailed over the rim and Michael Lee had snatched the rebound. Lee spun toward the top of the key and fired a pass to Hinrich, who stood — wait, how far was he from the basket? 25 feet? 30 feet? He didn't dare chuck from 30 feet, did he? He didn't dare nail a game-winner with two seconds on the shot clock and a hand in his face? Of course, the ball rattled in, and Kirk was the hero.
And Hinrich admits that while he's excited for the jersey ceremony, he's just as excited for the game. Excited to be back in Allen Fieldhouse and excited to feel the rivalry again.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Now on Saturday, Hinrich will be back in Allen Fieldhouse and Kansas will be back playing Missouri.
"I don't know if there's a greater honor," he said, "than having your jersey hanging in the most historic basketball building in the world."
And as he says this, you realize that Kirk Hinrich might be a few years older, a few years wiser, and the old haircut might be gone. But he's still the Kirk Hinrich you remember.
McCray steps up with timely scoring
Teammates working together to secure two big victories
BY JAYSON JENKS
jjenks@kansan.com
The turning point in Wednesday night's victory against Oklahoma State happened with 12:15 remaining, an eternity in the basketball world.
At that moment, the Cowgirls — and their fans — stormed back into the game, using a 9-0 run to take a 40-38 lead. In the past, similar punches left Kansas battered and unable to piece together an answer.
But for the second time in as many games, junior forward Danielle McCray provided stability, scoring five consecutive points to give the Jayhawks a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
Facing Nebraska inside Allen Fieldhouse Saturday at 7 p.m. Kansas will need more of the same.
"We needed somebody like that to step up and want the ball," senior guard Ivana Catic said. "And not just want the ball for the wrong reasons. She wants the ball and she knows what to do with it."
In Kansas' last two games — both victories — McCray has averaged 27 points and nearly 15 rebounds, while making 53 percent of her shots.
Still, the manner in which McCray has scored made those numbers even more staggering.
On Kansas' final first-half possession, McCray dribbed at the top of the three-point line while Kansas' other four players lined the baseline.
As the shot clock neared zero, McCray drove to the free throw line before knocking down a tightly contested jump shot to give Kansas a 26-22 lead.
("Wednesday) night was one of those nights where I just needed to get the ball to D and she was going to do something," Catic said. "With her, I just know that she's going to do something."
McCray has shouldered Kansas' offensive load throughout the season. Yet, few of her performances have featured such crucial and timely scoring.
When the score tightened and Oklahoma State began surging back into the game, McCray delivered.
There's little doubt that McCray is Kansas' go-to player — "You pretty much know that if the play breaks down, that's who you go to," Catic said — but in previous games Kansas' supporting cast hasn't always played its part.
"I'm very confident in myself," McCray said. "Any good player, in the heat of the moment and when things are tough, you want the ball in your hands."
Yet, in victories against Iowa State and Oklahoma State, McCray displayed a keen sense of timing: when to shoot and when to defer to a teammate.
Junior guard Danielle McCray lines up a shot at past multiple Iowa State defenders during the Jayhawks' Feb. 22 victory in Allen Fieldhouse. During the last two games, McCraa has averaged 27 points and nearly 15 rebounds.
Rvan McGeeneev/KANSAN
Kansas (15-11) vs. Nebraska (13-13)
| P | No. | Kansas | Ht. | Yr. | PPG |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| G | 3 | Ivana Catic | 5-8 | Sr. | 2.4 |
| F | 4 | Danielle McCray | 5-11 | Jr. | 19.5 |
| G | 20 | Sade Morris | 5-11 | Jr. | 11.8 |
| F | 24 | Nicollette Smith | 6-2 | So. | 7.5 |
| C | 14 | Krysten Boogaard | 6-5 | So. | 9.4 |
P No. Nebraska Ht. Yr. PPG
G 24 Dominique Kelley 5-7 So. 9.7
G 22 Yvonne Turner 5-8 Jr. 11.5
G 5 Kaitlyn Burke 5-7 So. 6.4
C 44 Catheryn Redmon 6-3 So. 5.8
F 44 Cory Montgomery 6-2 Jr. 14.3
Tipoff scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse.
When/Where..
Who to watch for.
Junior forward Cory Montgomery. Montgomery has stepped her game up in conference play, and she had her best game so far in the Cornhuskers' victory over Kansas State Wednesday night. She scored 21 points and pulled down eight boards. She's a forward, but she isn't afraid to step outside. He hit three three-pointers in the Huskers' 52-47 upset win.
What to expect...
Kansas will focus on the defensive end and keep the Huskers from scoring at will as they did in the second half in the two teams' first meeting. Kansas is fresh off dominant defensive performances against better offenses than Nebraska. It's very doubtful Nebraska will score more than the 67 points they scored in the first match.
Why Kansas will win...
Kansas is playing its best basketball of the season. As coach Bonnie Henrickson said in her postgame conference in Stillwater, Okla., no team stays the same in February. They either get better or get worse. It looks like this team is getting better.
Kansas and Nebraska are tied in the Big 12 standings. There is a good chance the Jayhawks will take on the Cornhuskers in the first round of the Big 12 tournament. The Jayhawks definitely do not want to struggle down the stretch and fall to 11th or 12th in the standings and be forced to play a top-level Big 12 team like Texas in the first round.
Magic number...
105 — The Cornhuskers have taken 105 more free throws than their opponents, mostly because the Cornhuskers foul very rarely. The Jayhawks will need to finish easy shots and not automatically expect the contact.
That trend changed in Kansas last two games.
"Your entire defense is focused on her," Catic said, "and then someone else can sneak in and score points."
- Clark Goble
Last Sunday against Iowa State,
junior guard Sade Morris stepped
up by scoring 16 points, including
eight straight at the end of
the game.
On Wednesday night, sophomore forward Nicollette Smith's outside shooting and offensive presence inside allowed her to
chip in 13 points all in the second half.
Those added contributions, combined with McCray's more efficient scoring, have been keys for Kansas' recent turnaround.
"Danielle made better decisions about shot selection and has had better rhythm into shots," coach Bonnie Henrickson said. "The possessions where she has bad footwork have reduced drastically. And she's shared the ball. Her teammates have executed around her and hit big shots."
MCCRAY FINALIST FOR AWARD
Junior forward Danielle McCray was named a Naismith Trophy Mid-Season candidate, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced Wednesday.
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Edited by Liz Schubauer
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